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Nursing home manager loses malpractice damage cap for late proof
A Louisiana appeals court found the operator could not show it was enrolled in the medical malpractice fund before trial, so the statutory liability cap was forfeited.
A Louisiana appeals court ruled that a nursing home manager forfeited the state medical malpractice damage cap after failing to produce its proof of insurance enrollment before trial, changing how damages were allocated in a wrongful death case, according to Insurance Business.
The suit involved Heritage Manor West and its administrative manager, Pathway Management of Louisiana. The resident entered the facility in 2015 and stayed until March 2020, when he was moved to another site for pressure wounds, and he died on May 20, 2020, with sacral wounds with sepsis listed as the immediate cause on his death certificate.
A jury found for the resident’s daughter and awarded about $3.9 million, including $1 million against Heritage on a fraud claim. But the appeals court focused on the enrollment documentation required under Louisiana’s Medical Malpractice Act, which caps qualified providers’ liability at $100,000 plus interest, with the Patient’s Compensation Fund covering excess damages up to $500,000.
Because Pathway did not produce the certificate proving its qualified status during discovery and offered it only at trial, the court agreed with the trial court that the late proof should not be allowed. The appeals court held Pathway as non-qualified, ordering $312,500 in general damages plus $148,844.82 in special damages and costs without a ceiling, while it reversed the fraud findings and vacated the reduced $687,500 fraud award and $265,636.25 in attorney fees.